Tag Archives: Work

Arthur LInfoot was employed as a clerk at the Hendon Paper Mill in Sunderland prior to joining the RAMC. He rejoined the company after demobilisation and remained there until his retirement, rising to become a Director of the company by that time.

10 September 1914; Thursday

September 1914,

Business much slacker at the office. Had walk at town at night.

British Army defeat Germans at Soissons & capture men & guns1.

  1. Soissons: when the German advance was stopped by Galliéni’s flank attack, counter-­attacks by the main French and British armies were required to keep the Germans moving back. Soissons is some distance North of the Marne, not far on the Allied side of the eventual front line. ↩

8 September 1914; Tuesday

September 1914, ,

Not much to do at work. Finished in good time. Played a bit. Wrote up diary. Cold much better. Uncle Jack in at night and talked about the war. News from the front brighter. Report that Allies have checked German advance & threaten to turn their wings. A report from the Continent that there are 250000 [sic] Russians on French soil1. “Oceanic” wrecked off North of Scotland2. 70000 [sic] Indian troops dispatched to the front (9th)

  1. This was of course nonsense, no doubt related to the contemporary story that a reinforcing Russian army had been seen marching from the north of Scotland to the English Channel, identified as Russian because they “had snow on their boots.” See also The Truth at Last at Picture Postcards from the Great War. ↩

  2. Oceanic: White Star transatlantic liner, launched 1898, until 1901 the biggest ship afloat at 17,272 tons (the first ship to be longer than Brunel’s Great Eastern); thus well-­known and a matter of great prestige, she had carried 1,710 passengers and 349 crew. Converted to an armed merchant cruiser in 1914, she was sent to the North of Scotland to patrol the Shetland area, and ran aground on the Shaalds of Foula on the night of 7-­8 September, breaking up within two weeks. Curiously, the Wikipedia article says “The disaster was hushed up at the time”, but it clearly wasn’t. ↩

7 September 1914; Monday

September 1914, ,

Not much to do at work. Alf back and Frank away. Finished early. I had a bad cold and went straight to Dr Blair’s at night. I asked him to sound me and he said I was pretty sound about the heart and had nothing much * my weakness. Went down to meeting at night and received a share of bills to deliver. Came up with Fred Waggott and talked of the war.

News from the front a little brighter. Dorothy’s 2nd birthday. 3rd casualty list 4796.

6 September 1914; Sunday

September 1914, , , , ,

[In longhand above date] Germans fall back from Paris after two days fighting1.

At church and School as usual. Managed pretty well at School. Had rather shorter walks than usual. Charlie at work in morning and afternoon. Received news of the sinking of the “Pathfinder”2 & loss of about 240 lives caused through striking a mine. Also the Runo liner3 with loss of about 20 lives. Gen. French’s official report stating that 15000 men have been lost and that our men were in every way superior to the Germans. I had bad cold and sat out <of> the choir at night. Communion service. Charlie sang a bit of a solo in the anthem.

  1. “Germans fall back . .”: this was the First Battle of the Marne. The Germans’ rapid advance had been intended to finish the war in the West so as to free most of their troops for the war in Russia, and although their southward drive came East of Paris, instead of West as originally planned, it nearly succeeded. It failed however (leading to the 4 years of trench warfare), partly because their communications became too extended, but also because General Galliéni, who had been left with troops to defend Paris, on his own initiative took the opportunity to attack the German right (western) flank as they were moving South of Paris. ↩

  2. Pathfinder: see note on 5 September. ↩

  3. The New York Times reports the sinking of the Wilson passenger liner Runo on 5th September 1914. ↩

3 September 1914; Thursday

September 1914, , , ,

Not so busy at work. The recruiting strain getting worse and lots of men joining. Had walk at night. Bob and Sandy in the office. They are going to join Kitchener’s army. Their appearance and conversation caused a lot of excitement.

Lemberg & Galicia captured by Russians. HMS.Speedy1 sunk in North Sea by a mine.

  1. HMS Speedy: torpedo gunboat, launched 1893, sunk by a mine – actually in the Humber estuary. ↩

31 August 1914; Monday

August 1914,

Got up about 8 o’clock. Not much to do at work. Mr Aitken in bad temper and said something about clearing us all out. Finished in good time. Troubled a bit with toothache. Mr Scott asked if I would join their singing class. Received money.

Nothing very much from the war.

28 August 1914; Friday

August 1914, ,

Got up early and went to baths. Managed pretty well. Sleepy and busy at work. Finished pretty early. Naval Battle off Heligoland1  2. 3 German cruisers and 2 destroyers sunk. British losses slight, only 29 killed and 38 wounded. German losses very heavy. We heard this next day. A good deal of interest about the position of the British Army in France. We know it is very much at the * and there are rumours about their being cut off.

Germans destroy Louvain3.

  1. The Battle of Heligoland Bight, the first naval battle of the War: both sides maintained destroyer patrols on the German coast (the Bight), and the RN arranged this ambush; actually 3 German cruisers and 1 destroyer were sunk, and 1 RN cruiser and 3 destroyers. The Heligoland islands, originally Frisian, were acquired by Britain in 1814 from Denmark, and ceded to Germany in 1890 under the Heligoland-­Zanzibar Treaty, whereupon Germany fortified them. ↩

  2. See also note on 9 August 1914. ↩

  3. The burning of the university library is probably the best-known feature of the destruction of Louvain (now usually Leuven), but there was also determined street-fighting, and consequent reprisals, now featuring in a display in the bell-tower of the rebuilt library (as at 2019). A new library was built, 1921-27 (and again reconstructed post-WW2), in the Mgr. Ladeuzeplein, financed mainly but not entirely from the USA; many American donor universities’ and colleges’ names are engraved on the façade, and an uncompromising inscription to the effect that American money had repaired German destruction was averted only at a late stage by the university authorities. The bell-tower contains a peal of 48 bells, cast in London: one for each pre-1940 USA state.

    See also The Destruction of Louvain, 1914 at firstworldwar.com ↩

27 August 1914; Thursday

August 1914, , ,

Busy at work. Finished early. Grand day. News of one Danish & one Norwegian ship being blown up in the North Sea. The British navy has landed marines at Ostend for its protection. The Cruiser “Highflyer” has sunk the German cruiser “Kaiser Wilhelm the Great”1 off the West Coast of Africa. Joe showed me some of Willie Wanless’s writings and we talked a bit about it. Had walk out last thing. The German cruiser Magdeburg2 sunk by Russians.

  1. Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse was a commerce raider; Highflyer, an elderly (1898) 6” gun cruiser, found her coaling off the Spanish/Saharan Rio del Oro and demanded her surrender. She refused, saying she was in neutral territorial waters; which neutrality she had however herself been violating, so Highflyer sank her, her crew escaping to the shore. ↩

  2. Magdeburg: actually ran aground on 26 August off Odensholm (Estonia), and was captured by Russian cruisers. They seized code books, giving one copy to the RN, which was useful eg. before Jutland. ↩